It wasn’t so long ago where a novelist spent all day (for weeks and months at a time) isolated in a room, office, or designated “away” space (like a hotel or cabin) to do nothing but write. When I was younger, I glamorized the profession as I imagined being part of it.
The sandalwood candles burned low, their wicks swimming in a pool of melted wax. I sipped on the glass of merlot I’d poured earlier and stared into the fireplace, the logs popping cheerfully and flames flickering an amorphous pattern, bathing the corner of the room in a warm glow. Strains of Vivaldi danced through the room, inspiring my muse, who then roused my passion for the tale. The words flowed from my head through my fingers, marring the pristine white page with the angst of my characters. I wrote, “The End,” with a flourish and added the last page to the towering pile.
Ugh. Talk about purple prose. That kind of writing is as out of style as being an isolated writer is. Gone are the days where authors hid away from the world and poured their souls into their work for a year.
No. Now we pour our souls much faster, and we don’t get to hide. We have platforms to maintain and marketing to do. (Well, maybe not Nora Roberts, Stephen King, or James Patterson, but the rest of us can’t afford to be so isolated from society.)
Are you struggling to rectify your introvert tendencies with the need to be a social butterfly? Do you wonder who you are? What you should be doing?
Ponder these things no more. Today at Story Empire, Mae Clair discusses personality types (what they mean and how the breakdown occurs), and she offers a link to take a test and receive your own assessment. Check it out here.
I write wherever I can. I like background noise. When it’s too quiet I think something is wrong ad that actually distracts me.
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I usually like sound in the background, too. Sometimes silence is loud!
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It’s a dream of mine to have one whole day where all I have to do is write. Wouldn’t that be nice?
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That sounds heavenly. But I’d definitely need a cabin in the woods.
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Staci, thanks for sharing my post today. I glamorized the writing profession when I was younger too. Amazing the difference between what I thought it would be like and what it is. And still, I’d never trade it—despite all the social media/branding/platform building that (even introverted) writers have to do!
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Happy to share, as always!
I know; reality is a slap in the face (of my younger self, anyway). I won’t give up writing because of it, but I do reserve the right to complain about platform-building on occasion. 😉
I’m pretty sure non-writers think the glamorized version is what our lives are like. Oh, how wrong they are!
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Which never stops them from saying….”Yeah, one day I think I’ll write a book too.” palm-forehead
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I’m right there with you!
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Reblogged this on jw's historical and commented:
it would be lovely, that fantasy writer’s world, but in the end, it’s a bore, just being by oneself…where would the next idea come from, if not from the other jostling mammals? 😉
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Hey, my friend! So nice to see you here on Staci’s blog. 🙂
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That’s a good point, Juliet. People are such great sources for inspiration. Thanks for stopping by!
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All this social media/platform building thing is so consuming for me… But unfortunately I know I can’t avoid it. Off to read Mae ‘s post!
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Hey, my friend! So nice to see you here on Staci’s blog. 🙂
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Well, Duh! I meant that comment for Juliet. Not that I’m not happy to see you too, Irene LOL!
And thanks for checking out my post today. I hate the social media/platform building too. I would much rather tuck (introverted me) into my den and write!
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Mae… that made me laugh.
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Platform building is time-consuming for all of us. Don’t feel bad! Thanks for visiting, and for going on to read Mae’s post.
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